CVE-2020-29564
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedThe official Consul Docker images 0.7.1 through 1.4.2 contain a blank password for a root user. System using the Consul Docker container deployed by affected versions of the Docker image may allow a remote attacker to achieve root access with a blank password.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceThe Consul Docker images versions 0.7.1 through 1.4.2 contain a hardcoded blank password for the root user, allowing remote unauthenticated attackers to gain root access to the container by connecting to the exposed service with empty credentials.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data>= 0.7.1, <= 1.4.2CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Identify Consul Docker image versionRun 'docker images' or 'docker inspect <container_id>' to see the image tag and digest. Also check any docker-compose.yml, Dockerfile, or deployment manifests for the image version.Affected if The image version/tag falls within the range >= 0.7.1 and <= 1.4.2
-
Verify container is exposing Consul portsRun 'docker ps' or 'docker inspect <container_id>' to check exposed ports (typically 8500 for HTTP API, 8300-8302 for Serf and RPC). Also review network configuration to determine if ports are bound to 0.0.0.0.Affected if The Consul service port is exposed and reachable from network locations outside the localhost or trusted segment
-
Test for blank root password vulnerabilityAttempt to authenticate to the Consul API without credentials: curl -s http://<consul_host>:8500/v1/agent/self or connect to the CLI with consul members -token ''Affected if The Consul agent responds to API or CLI requests with root privileges using empty/blank authentication token, indicating the hardcoded blank root password is active
Environment is affected if the Consul Docker image version is between 0.7.1 and 1.4.2 AND the Consul service port (8500, 8300-8302) is accessible remotely, allowing unauthenticated root access with empty credentials.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpgrade Consul Docker images to version 1.4.3 or later which removes the blank root password, and audit for any unauthorized access that may have occurred during the vulnerable period.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,736.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-29564 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-29564 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data